Three words
by YamiMii-Kun
Summary: PpG AU, He told her as often as he could and he always said it with so much meaning. Those words meant so much to her and she was hoping she could say them herself. Alas, in the end, she wasn't able to give him those last words. She was too late... GREENS


Buttercup slowly opened her eyes. The only thing she could see was black. She was covered in darkness and couldn't see any light, except for a faint aura of light that was emitting from her form.

'_Where am I_,' the raven asked no one in particular. She began walking, not really caring where she was going, and the darkness began to merge into something else. There was a flash of light, so bright that she had to close her eyes.

* * *

"Ms. Buttercup please wake up! Your sisters are already up and at 'em," a pleasant voice rang in said girl's ears. Buttercup slowly got up, stretching in the process, and looked out the window that she slept by. She could see Blossom and Bubbles clean the streets in front of their shop/house. Brittney must be watching the cashier or in the storing room. She turned to Helen, who was the family's personal maid.

"A thirteen year old girl shouldn't be in bed all day," said Helen, who smiled at her as she poured the pitcher of water into the washing bowl for Buttercup to wash her face. The green-eyed raven yawned one more time before getting off her bed.

She was soon out and running deliveries for her Father's and their family's store. They sold all sorts of things the common people needed. They weren't exactly rich but they weren't poor either.

Buttercup fashioned herself as a normal boy that lived in Old Townville, which was located in western England. She had on a light brown English hat, a light green dress shirt, black suspenders, dark brown pants, brown vest, and black shoes. Since she had short raven hair, she would just tie it up and hide it under her hat. Being discriminated as a girl always ended up in fights and getting scolded by her Father.

She soon passed a bunch that her sisters, and herself, tried to show reason to. They were a nasty stealing bunch. They were Brick, Butch, Ben, and Boomer; or the Jojo brothers. They were always stealing and pranking all the gents and ladies. They weren't all bad though, and frankly it wasn't their fault. Their mother died while giving birth to quadruplets and their father had ditched them when finding how many of them there were.

The only reason why Buttercup and her sisters knew about this was because the ladies of the town would badmouth and gossip about the boys. The Utonium girls felt so sad for the boys. They had tried to approach the boys in a friendly matter but the boys had begun to distrust everyone in the town. The girls didn't give up and they were able to get the boys to actually talk to them.

The boys would often come by their shop to hang and tease the girls, but they knew they meant no ill will. They didn't need words to make real of what they were now. If you asked whether they were friends, the boys would most certainly disagree. But their actions truly contradict their words.

The boys still stole and committed crime to get by, even though the girls offered them food and housing and begged them to stop. It just seemed as though the boys didn't want to lean on the girls and their family in any way.

"Hey, Brick," called out the raven girl. The redheaded boy looked behind their group and gave her a smirk.

"Well, if it ain't the little boy green, oops, I meant girl," Brick snickered along with his brothers. Buttercup rolled her eyes, as she caught up with the boys, and lightly shoved the red boy.

"Shut up. You know how people feel about girls here. 'Oh, you're just a girl. What can you do' or 'Girls should just sit down, be quiet, and do wifey things'," she spat out in disgust. Brick just shook his head as he chuckled.

"There's no such word as 'wifey', Butters," he said before getting playfully punched by his green brother.

"Don't be a smart-ass, bro."

As the boys joked around, Buttercup found herself lost in Butch's emerald orbs. She would never admit this aloud, not even to her sisters, that she had a crush on the green Jojo. She hadn't even noticed herself until just recently. Whenever she heard his voice she would perk up and listen, dark green would always catch her eye, and she found herself in bliss when she saw him.

"-ing, right? Don't you think so too, Buttercupers," hearing the nickname he gave her, and her alone, made her heart skip a beat. Buttercup soon realized she was being stared at.

"Wha- Sorry I was spacing out," she sputtered as she looked away from Butch. The cobalt Jojo rolled his eyes.

"Girls," Ben chimed out playfully. He earned a half-hearted punch to the face. They decided to walk together to the Utonium shop, which was closed for the rest of the day, and meet the rest of Buttercup's sisters.

"Welcome back Buttercu-...Boomer," exclaimed the green-eyed raven girl's baby blue sister. She jumped into the arms of the blond boy. They twirled before he set her back down.

"Well hello to you too," said Boomer, grinning back at her. The boys were still getting used to being so close to others, even though they've been at the shop so many times, and stood awkwardly by the door.

"Come on in, no need to be shy," said Brittney, voice eluded of any sarcasm. The boys hesitantly went into the living room and sat down. Buttercup sat down next to Butch but kept her head lowered.

They talked for a long time. It was already late evening when Butch tugged at Buttercup's sleeves. She sat rigid as Butch leaned ever so slightly to whisper to her.

"Can I talk with you? In your room perhaps? Don't worry I won't pull anything," he chuckled slightly as Buttercup gave him a look. She did everything she could to not let a trace of a blush show up on her face. She reluctantly agreed as she excused them from their siblings. It's not like he hasn't been in her room before. He would often burst in with no reason, and that would irritate her. But at least at those times she would focus on her irritation and it wasn't awkward.

Butch asking to talk to her in her room made her nervous. It wasn't like him.

Before she could even reach her door knob, Butch's hands encircled her waist. She was glad he couldn't see her face, because she knew she had a ferocious blush on her cheeks.

"Y-you said you wouldn't try anything," Buttercup managed to stammer out. Her hands were placed on his, as a reflex, and twitched ever so slightly. She could feel Butch nuzzle his face more into her mess of hair.

"I won't do anything, I promise...I love the way you smell," he said softly into her hair. Her jade orbs widened. Buttercup felt as though her heart would beat out of her chest. She was sure that Butch could hear it; her heartbeat was ringing in her ears. "I...I love you."

Her hands tightened as tears threatened to spill from her jade eyes. He opened the door to her room and led them both in. As he locked the door, he turned her to face him. Her face showed no emotion and this did nothing to encourage the raven boy.

He slowly brought his face closer to her, she didn't pull away, and his lips met hers. She closed her eyes in bliss and kissed him back. The kisses were chaste and soon became more heated. The need for air drew them apart, leaving them both panting and faces pink. Butch rested his forehead against Buttercup's, he was only a few inches taller than her, and sighed contentedly.

"I love you."

-x-

Days passed and Buttercup was contemplating how to say those three little words. She wanted them to be special and meaningful but nothing cheesy or dramatic. Whenever she met Butch he would secretly hug her, give her a quick kiss, and say those three cavity-inducing words:

'_I love you._'

She didn't want to say it too casually and make it seem it was easy and not a big deal, it was a huge deal. Buttercup rarely uses 'love' in her life's vocabulary. She was just not an openly affectionate kind of person.

She hasn't told him yet on how she feels, as of right now he doesn't have a clue. But Buttercup wants to tell him soon, before he thinks it's hopeless and gives up. It wasn't like she was leading him on or torturing him. It's just those three words that get stuck in her throat and refused to come out the way she wants to.

"Hey Buttercupers," a familiar voice filled the quiet shop. Buttercup could feel her heart melt and her thoughts getting muddled. She was taking care of the cashier as the rest of her family work on the garden in the back. He smiled fondly at her before laying his lips on hers as a simple kiss, a greeting. She touched her lips and gave him an embarrassed look.

"Hey my family is still here you know. What if they had walked in right now," she huffed out stubbornly. His smile didn't fade as he laughed softly at her.

"Yea, I'll try to be more careful," he said. He laid his head on the counter and looked up at her. "I'll meet you upstairs, 'kay?"

Buttercup allowed herself a small blush and looked away indifferently, nodding.

When she got up to her room, Butch was lying on her bed. Sleeping. Buttercup took the chance to observe his sleeping face.

'_Ah, he looks so calm and peaceful_,' she thought lovingly. Her fingers found themselves brushing his bangs away from his face. Suddenly she was flipped over and pinned to the bed.

"Got you," his breath hit her ear and made her shiver. His lips found her ear lobe, making her breath hitch, and he trailed butterfly kisses all the way down her neck. Her hands found their way into his raven locks, playing with them as Butch kissed up her jaw. Their lips finally connected and they were in world where there was only them.

-x-

'_Today_,' Buttercup sucked in a breath to encourage herself, '_today is the day I will finally tell him._'

She fixed her boyish attire before she headed out to find Butch. She walked around for at least 30 minutes before she finally heard his voice. But something was wrong. He was shouting angrily and threatening someone. Buttercup rushed over the crowd that had formed and pushed her way to the center. The King's Guards were yelling and doing something to four blurry forms that were fighting back.

"Butch," yelled Buttercup, as she caught dark green along with red, blue, and cobalt. The boy looked at her with fear in his eyes, he was distracted enough for a guard to punch him in the face. Buttercup could feel anger bubble inside her.

"Hey! Stop it-"

"Little boy, do you know what these boys have done? They have stolen the jewels of the King and refuse to reveal where they have hidden them," a guard had cut her off. Buttercup searched Butch's emerald orbs and only saw what she already knew.

"No, they didn't! What makes you think you can just go accusing and beating other people for something they didn't do," she yelled, enraged. The wind suddenly picked up and blew her hat off, revealing her identity. Her emotions also evoked a girlish crack in her voice when she had yelled, only leading to her downfall. The guard smirked, pulled at her ponytail, undoing it, and grabbed her by her raven strands.

"Hey, girlie, are you this guy's women. You trying to cover for him 'cause he gave you those jewels as a present? Where are they and we'll let you and your lover go," the guard said with malice dripping from his tone.

"I told you, they didn-, Ouch-"

"Wrong answer," the guard cackled as he pulled harder at Buttercup's hair. Tears formed at the sides of Buttercup's eyes. Then in a blur of red and forest green, the pain stopped and butch was foots away from her. He had a switch blade, now soaked in blood, in hand and the guard lied in pain next to her.

"You don't ever make her cry in front of me," Butch had said with so much anger and hate, it made Buttercup's eyes widen. She reached for him and he reached for her, smiles spreading on their faces. But it was short lived as a gunshot was heard and Butch's expression turned into shock as he fell next to the writhing guard.

"Stabbing a King's Guard equals death," another guard roared out. But no one heard him over Buttercup's screams or the rest of the Jojo brother's own roars. Buttercup kneeled beside Butch's body and laid his head in her lap, tears spilling down her green eyes. Butch coughed and looked lovingly up at Buttercup.

"I love you," he muttered as he laid his palm at the side of her face. She nuzzled into it and sobbed. As he was gasping and wheezing, Buttercup realized this might be the only chance she had to tell him. But everything she tried to say was muffled behind her sobs and the brawl going on behind her.

Butch weakly pressed his fingers to his lips and pressed them on her quivering ones. With one last shaky breath he closed his eyes and left a smile on his face. Thunder clasped and lighting struck, rain poured down on the pair.

"Butch? Butch! Y-you c-can-can't die! I still- I still haven't told you," Buttercup sobbed even harder and tears stung at her eyes and mixed in the rain, "I haven't –hic- told you how much , hngh, I LOVE YOU!"

Butch peaceful and smiling face didn't move and Buttercup couldn't feel his breathing or his heartbeat. _She couldn't feel his heartbeat_. The heartbeat she spent some nights falling asleep to. He was gone. Butch Jojo was no longer in this world.

Buttercup screamed. She screamed and sobbed until she lost the strength and voice too. The crowd looked on pitifully and did not even try to approach her. The boys sobbed and ran towards the green-eyed girl. She cried into Boomer's embrace as they all mourned over Butch's body.

Buttercup opened her eyes to see only darkness and only cried harder. Butch was gone. She was too late. She never got to tell him those words, '_I love you_'.

Three simple words that he told her every day, that she couldn't ever tell him because she was being perplexed and stressful over it. She felt horrible, she wanted to start over, and she wanted him back.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I never told you. I never even told you," the girl began to chant in her head as sobs tumbled out of her mouth, "I love you, Butch Jojo."

* * *

Buttercup woke up with her arm outstretched, as if she was reaching for something, and stared at her bedroom ceiling. She looked down at herself. She was her seventeen year old self, wearing a green spaghetti-strap shirt and black shorts. On her dresser were pictures of the Professor and her sisters. One was of their first day at Pokey Oaks High school, another at a party for juniors, and the last one that caught her eye was a picture of Butch and herself.

She turned her head to her right and saw the broad back of Butch. He was wearing a black muscle shirt and was only in his forest green boxers. She could see the rise and fall of his shoulder, proof that he was alive.

'_It was just a dream. Butch is alive. God damnit, of course it was a dream...but it felt so real_,' thought the jade eyed raven. Her vision of the ceiling became blurry and she felt a stinging in her eyes as hot tears tumbled down her face. '_Fuck, stop crying. You're going to wake him up._'

Buttercup pulled one of her arms over eyes as she gritted her teeth and tried not to sob. Her hand clenched tightly at the sheets as she gasped softly and moaned out. Before she knew it, a form loomed over her and wiped at her tears.

"Babe, what's wrong," Butch's voice was groggy from just waking up but the worry in his tone stood out most.

"I-I had, ngh, a dream –hic- that you died," she managed to get out between sobs. Butch pushed back her bangs in a comforting manner.

"Yeah? But it was a dream," he said softly, kissing her forehead. He placed kisses over each of her eyes, then her nose, and lastly placing a small kiss on her lips. She sniffled once more before cupping Butch's face between her hands, clearing her throat before she spoke.

"Did I tell you –sniff- that I love you," her voice was confident if not just hoarse. "You have to know...I love you. I love you. Love you so much. I love you, Butch Jojo. Love you."

Butch had never seen Buttercup break down like this and he felt his heart get heavy and a wanting to take away her pain. Something cried out in his heart and a single tear fell down the boy's face.

"Yeah, I love you too. I love you, Buttercup Utonium. I will always love you," he said and gave her a smile. They shared a kiss before lying back down to sleep, keeping each other close.

'_Ah, our heartbeats. They're beating as one_,' was Buttercup's last thought before falling into a dreamless, blissful sleep.

* * *

A little one-shot that I thought about and couldn't get it out of my head. There might be one-shot sequel to this but for now this is it :D

Thank you for reading and feel free to point out my mistakes and reviews are appreciated.


End file.
